Tag Archives: sweet potato

Yeah Carb Nite! As I mentioned in my last post I am following the Carb Nite Solution by John Kiefer, and tonight is my “Carb Nite” – glorious. Now, I am not binging on donuts, pizza, and scones like some people, and am keeping it pretty much paleo. I am allowing myself white rice, since it’s pretty harmless (Phase One: SUSHI ) and have recently added some full fat dairy as I mentioned previously that I’ve discovered that I can handle goat milk pretty well (Generally, I will consume it in the form of full fat goat milk kefir and some goat milk cheeses) so I found this brand of GOAT MILK ICE CREAM which will definitely serve as an occasional “Carb Nite” indulgence (Phase Two: Figs and Ice Cream) ….I figured it was a holiday…. Oh man.

Just to get side tracked for a second, let me tell you about ice cream. This past year and a half, if I had Ice Cream (Rare Occasion) it was Larry and Luna’s Coconut Milk based Ice Cream. Which is absolutely awesome. But holy cow, this Goats Milk Ice Cream by LaLoo’s is A-MAZE-ING. I don’t particularly like that it has carrageenan in it, but considering this is going to be a very occasional treat, it’s not the worse thing in the world. The two flavors I bought were the Dark Chocolate, and the Vanilla Snowflake. Absolutely lovely and rich in flavor and the level of creaminess in the texture is just not something you are going to find in the coconut based ice creams. Easy on the digestive system and delicious….I’m totally sold.

Anyway this post is not about any of that. Well I guess it is, but mainly it’s about Sweet Potatoes (Phase Three: Sweet Potato Fries!!!!)

I’m big on homemade food, and getting rid of processed artificial crap, but sometimes you don’t want to chop up a million sweet potatoes. Sorry folks, unless you know of a brand I don’t, I’m pretty sure a bag of simple sweet potato fries doesn’t exist. All the ones I’ve seen have crap oils and weird seasonings. That’s OK, who needs the freezer section anyway. I decided to just suck it up and make them myself.

I decided to make things a little more fun, and used three different varieties of sweet potatoes: Japanese, Garnet, and Hanna

As for the recipe, I cannot take any credit beyond that. These are pretty much verbatim from THIS recipe on NOM NOM PALEO‘s website. For the seasoning I used Salt, Pepper, and Paprika as described in her recipe, but added cinnamon as well. They came out amazing, so I highly recommend you check out her recipe and make them.

Oh slow cooker, how I’ve neglected you! I forgot how easy the crock pot makes my life on gym days. Nothing says happiness like coming home after a WOD a not having to make dinner. I took some spice cues from Thai Cuisine; using basil (But not Thai basil, since I couldn’t find it when I went ingredient shopping.) ginger, and lemongrass. Coconut milk added a rich creaminess, and everything really brought out the flavors in the yams.

Ingredients:

2 lbs Grass Fed Beef Stew Meat

2 Cans Light Coconut Milk

2 stalks (3-4 inches each) Lemongrass, Chopped

1 2-3 Inch peice of ginger, peeled and chopped

1 tsp Cayenne

2 Yams

1 Large Carrot

1 Vidalia Onion

5-7 Basil Leaves

Salt, Pepper, Paprika

2 tbsp Coconut Aminos

2 Stalks Celery

To prepare, chop the yams, carrots, onions, and celery. Add the ingredients to the crock pot, and then add the beef and remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 8-10 Hours.

I’m usually not one to include “filler” in my burgers or meatballs. Usually, other than onions or garlic, my burgers consist of meat, and spices….with usually an egg for binding. Mike is trying to cut out eggs (He suspects they may be bothering him) so I wanted to experiment by adding some veggies into my burgers to replace the egg. These big burgers are still very big and meaty, and since the sweet potato is a good carbohydrate, it’s almost like the bun is part of the burger! You can experiment with other veggies, just be sure to chop them with the food processor into very very small pieces. They are super quick and easy to make, and easy to tie-in or pair with a variety of side dishes.

1 Sweet Potato, peeled

1 Portabello Mushroom

1/4 Onion

2 or 3 stalks celery

5 Cloves Garlic

3 lbs Bison Meat

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1-2 Tbsp Coconut Aminos

Salt, Pepper, Thyme

In a food processor, combine all the veggies and blend until finely minced.

Add to a bowl along with the meat, olive oil, and aminos, and combine thoroughly.

I swear, cream based sauces look so gross in pictures….sorry! So I made this a few weeks ago, and it’s been lazily sitting in drafts because I was busy with the CrossFit Open, and things got busy and crazy. I was thinking to myself, how terrible I’ve been to you guys with lack of yummy things, so I’m finally buckling down and posting this! Hopefully with the seasons changing, the weather getting warmer, and new flavors and inspiration, I’ll start the creation process anew. Recently I’ve just been doing a lot of basic dishes, nothing I would really consider a “recipe” so I’ve been slow on here. Lightly seasoned chicken and vegetables, or simple burgers, who wants to see THAT! At the moment I have a few posts in drafts, so look for new content this week! I want to get a few health based posts up, one on squatting, and maybe I’ll do a few “Day Of Food” type posts in the coming months, not too sure. Anyway, this was a weird thrown together concoction, but it came out really yummy and is full of healthy fats and protein. It was one of those meals where Mike looked at me like I had 17 heads when I told him about what was in it, but when he ate it, he loved it like crazy. It’s REALLY rich and thick, so a little goes a long way. I should actually make it again….maybe I’ll add pineapple *Ponders*

Heat the coconut oil in a pan and add the shallots, garlic, sweet potato, seasoning, and aminos and saute for a few minutes. Cut the chicken breast into cubes and add to the pan along with the coconut cream and berries. Stir and cook until the chicken is cooked through. The berries should have softened and combined with the coconut cream enough to turn it pinkish purple.

I served it with Curried Sweet Potato Fries. I just cut a sweet potato into wedges, and cooked them in a generous amount of coconut oil over medium-medium high heat, and seasoned with a mixture of
Coriander, turmeric, allspice, salt, cumin.

I bought some beautiful purple cauliflower from the farmstand, and still had a bunch left over that didn’t make it into the polenta. I decided to use the rest of it to make a rice/risotto type thing. Originally I was going to make fried rice, but with some of the wetter ingredients I added, it cooked a little faster and ended up more like a risotto. Regardless, it was creamy and delicious, even if it was by accident. Happy accidents are just as much a part of cooking as planned masterpieces. Most of the time I’m “winging it” anyway. Sometimes I start off in one direction, and then steer myself off course and end up with something else. I’m a cook by the seat of my pants kind of girl.

I didn’t start with the risotto. First, I sectioned my glass rectangular pan with aluminum foil, so I could save clean up and cook the fish and sweet potatoes in one pan. I peeled and sliced the sweet potatoes into circles, then arranged them in the pan. Finally, I sprinkled them with some…I mean a generous amount…of cinnamon. I pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees and put them in. The purple sweets, have been one of my favorite ingredients this fall.

Then, I made the sauce for the fish. It’s really easy, and doesn’t take much time or effort. In a sauce pan, you simply simmer the ingredients over medium heat for maybe 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pumpkin Sauce

1 cup organic pumpkin

1/2 cup organic strained tomato

1/4 cup organic vegetable broth

Sage, cinnamon, thyme, allspice

After I made the sauce, I took the tray of sweet potatoes out of the oven (They were only in the oven for maybe 10 minutes), and added the salmon filet to the other section of pan. I sprinkled some salt and pepper, and then covered it in pumpkin sauce. I returned it to the oven for about 30-40 minutes until it was cooked through and flaked easily, but was still nice and moist. The sweet potatoes were nice and soft on the inside, with just a little bit of a crunch to the outside.

Then, while that was cooking, I got the ingredients ready for the risotto. I riced the cauliflower. while I sautéed the other ingredients over medium heat in about two tablespoons of duck fat.

I left it covered, occasionally stirring, and eventually everything cooked down, and looked like this:

At that point, I added the cauliflower, and a bit more duck fat. I kept stirring until the cauliflower was soft and everything began to clump together a bit.

Everything came out really nice. The sweet potatoes tasted and felt like toasted marshmallows. Seriously, they were amazing. The pumpkin sauce complimented the salmon really well, and the risotto had a nice flavor that balanced everything out, while having little bursty pockets of extra goodies mixed in. Next time I’ll probably go a bit heavier on the spices, but with the other parts of the meal being so flavorful, it was actually nice to have the cauliflower dish be a bit milder.

So this week I’ve been using a lot of previous recipes for my dinners, and have definitely been trying to make larger batches (Yay Leftovers!). However, I do want to post a short little check in, to share some of my breakfasts with you. My new go-to favorite thing to make is breakfast hash. I change it up every time, so even though the base is pretty much the same, It doesn’t get boring.

To start, I usually cut up a few sweet potatoes, and an onion. I stick them in a zip lock bag and season lightly with salt, pepper, paprika, and sometimes ginger. That way I can easily grab it out of the refrigerator, and that’s two less things to chop sleepily in the morning.

Here are some combinations I’ve played with that work really well, And I usually serve them with an egg or two on top for more good protein.

The possibilities are endless. It’s just a really versatile way to start the morning. If you put chopped meat or chicken in the hash, you don’t even need to serve it with an egg. I just throw everything on the griddle with some tallow or duck fat and let it cook until the meat is cooked through, the potatoes are soft, and maybe a little browned or caramelized on the outside.

Remember, just start with a seasoned onion/sweet potato base, and then get creative! Here are good ingredient choices, make your own combinations!

This came out really tasty. It was a happy accident actually. When I first started making it, I expected it to come out thicker, because of the coconut milk. I think between the water content of the Trader Joe’s Light Coconut Milk, and the liquids that come out of the chicken, it caused it to thin out. I liked it that way though, instead of it being a rich, thick, creamy stew – It came out more light and refreshing like a soup, and sometimes a spiced spin on good ol’ chicken soup is just what the doctor ordered. I found the flavor interesting enough yet still refreshing, but if you are expecting some intense curry flavors, you may want to up the spice. In terms of influence, I would say it’s more on the Thai side of things.

Ingredients:

3 large chicken breasts

2 cans Trader Joe’s Light coconut milk

1/8 cup chicken stock

1 onion

1 sweet potato

1 zucchini

1 bell pepper

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons ghee

1 cup pineapple

1 medjool date

3-4 tablespoons curry powder

2 tablespoons paprika

1-2 tablespoons turmeric

a few good shakes of

cardamom

cumin

salt

pepper

cayenne

The process couldn’t be any easier, which is the great thing about crock pots. I threw it together in the morning before heading out to work.

Peel and cube the sweet potato, and chop the vegetables into large chunks. Throw them in the crock pot.

Add the chicken, which should be cut into cubes. I use kitchen scissors, and just cut the breasts up right over the crock pot.

Add the spices, liquids, and any remaining ingredients.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours

Towards the end you can take the lid off or leave it open a crack to thicken it a slight bit if needed.